Hard Chrome Plated Blades and Hydrogen Embrittlement

69_knives

69_knives

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Nov 20, 2008
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I work in a plating shop and have the ability to hard chrome plate blades if I want to but I recall reading something about high carbon steel becoming brittle in the chrome plating process.

I know that real hard chrome shops (we do decorative plating only) plate at about a thou per hour so parts could be plated for several hours to build up say a hydraulic ram before it gets machined down. I have plated a few items with only a minute or two of chrome and the parts have not rusted. The parts were motorcycle fork tubes that I had to restore by welding up some rust craters.

Does anybody know if this potential embrittlement would be a problem if only plating for say between 1 and 2 minutes?

I guess another obvious question is; is chrome OK for cutlery?
 
I used to work with a chemist that warned me of such things when I asked about plating some car parts. (we built plating equipmnt). He said the parts had to be baked to remove the excess hydrogen and accompanying brittleness that came with it.I don't know anything about at what temps or how long, but would imagine it could mess with the temper of a blade.
Personally, I'd avoid plating a blade. It just seems like a trade mark of a cheaply made knife.
 
A flash plating of chrome or nickel should not hurt a blade, and will protect it very well. Blades have been plated for many years.
 
I have an old chrome plated set of knives of 1095 .They never been a problem.
Electroplating will introduce hydrogen into steel .It becomes critical at hardeness of 45 HRc or higher.Immediate baking will cure the problem .A flash plating of 1-2 minutes probably won't cause a problem but you get a very thin layer.
 
mete said:
I have an old chrome plated set of knives of 1095 .They never been a problem.
Electroplating will introduce hydrogen into steel .It becomes critical at hardeness of 45 HRc or higher.Immediate baking will cure the problem .A flash plating of 1-2 minutes probably won't cause a problem but you get a very thin layer.
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What baking temps are we talking about? Would it soften the blade?
 
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